Cricket World Cup: Strauss proud of display after India tie

England captain Andrew Strauss "proud" of his career-best 158 in thrilling tie with India in Group B

Captain Andrew Strauss was proud of his innings after his career-best 158 helped England earn a tie in SundayÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s thrilling World Cup Group B match with India.

Strauss needed to be at his best to help England earn a point against the tournament favourites after Sachin Tendulkar (120) became the first batsman to hit five World Cup centuries.

England responded to IndiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s total of 338 all out with 338/8 in Bangalore to secure a result which leaves both sides with three points after two games in Group B.

“It was an innings I’m very proud of,Ã¢â‚¬Â said Strauss. Ã¢â‚¬Å“It would have been great to have been not out at the end and seen the boys home. But it was my best one-day knock.Ã¢â‚¬Â

“It was always going to be a tough task to chase down that sort of total,” said Strauss. “We got ourselves in a position at 41 or 42 overs where we just needed to have a good powerplay, and we were there.

“But these powerplays can affect you both ways – and unfortunately, it affected us in the negative way. Then in the end, we did pretty well to scramble a tie out of it.”

And Strauss admitted to having mixed feelings about the final result. He added: “We’ve got to celebrate the fact it was an unbelievable game of cricket – probably the best advert for the 50-over format you could possibly get.

“There were some great performances on both sides. Both sides will be partly happy, partly sad.”

Meanwhile, IndiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Zaheer Khan (three for 64) paid tribute to StraussÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s impressive performance. “It was a tight game – that explains everything,” said Zhan. “Strauss batted damn well to put pressure on us.

“I felt that we would win the game, but it was a close contest between bat and ball.”